PHOENIX -- With a struggling reliever in the bullpen and two starters facing uncertainty about their next starts, the Mets made a roster move today in attempt to quell their problems.

The club out-righted John Lannan to Triple-A, creating a roster spot that they filled by calling up Daisuke Matsuzaka from Las Vegas.

Matsuzaka will be a long man out of the bullpen.

But with Jenrry Mejia bothered by a blister on his pitching hand that forced him to leave Tuesday night's start early and Bartolo Colon with a shaky back, it's also a netting for the Mets.

"Right now we brought up Daisuke to pitch out of the pen in a long role," Sandy Alderson said. "But he does give us some insurance with our starters."

Matsuzaka lost out in spring training in a competition to be the fifth starter and was relegated to Triple-A. There, he had a 2.25 ERA in 12 innings over two starts.

That he was called back up so quickly was even a surprise to him.

"I actually expected to be in Vegas for longer so it’s pretty out of the blue but I’m glad," he said through an interpreter. "The earlier the better so I’m happy about that."

Matsuzaka has only made one appearance out of the bullpen in his career, in 2011, so the new role will be an adjustment for him.

"Coming out of the bullpen is definitely something new to me but I understand what’s expected of me," Matsuzaka said. "I have to go along and do the best I can and pick things up as I go along."

Lannan will have 72 hours to decide whether to accept his demotion to the minors or to become a free agent. Part of that choice may depend on whether the Mets give him an opportunity to start in Las Vegas.

He struggled to acclimate to the bullpen, where he had a 15.75 ERA in five appearances. Saturday he pitched two shutout innings to earn a win in extra innings but he allowed three runs in an inning the next day -- the first time he had pitched on back to back days in his career.

"I feel I was on the right track after that one extra inning game but back to back days is something I didn’t go through yet," Lannan said. "It’s a learning process and it’s very hard to learn at this level. Even though I do have some big league experience, the mentality just didn’t click."

Because of those issues, he was not too surprised by today's news.

"Not really," he said. "I kind of wish I figured it out but I didn’t. Team’s doing really well and I wasn’t really contributing so they have to go in a different direction so I completely understand. Back to the drawing board."